"What did she just call them?

Last night's "Ideas at Work and Beyond" featured a caller who's rabid racial hostility helps reinforce the belief among those across the state that Danbury is comprised with some of the most racist morons in our society.

Thank goodness Ivon did the right thing as it didn't seem like co-host and Ridgefield's Marty Heiser understood the seriousness of the racial slur.



Boy, why does that comment from the anti-immigrant/hate community sound familiar?

Let's see:

• How about Elise Marciano supporters applauding the idea that all undocumented immigrants be rounded up and placed in concentration camps like Hitler did to the Jews before he almost exterminated the entire Jewish race in World War II...



• How about hate-monger Tom Bennett, Elise Marciano's anti-immigrant organization then Vice President John McGowan advocating residents shoot immigrants...



• How about Marciano's then Vice President McGowan dressed up in an Uncle Sam uniform desecrating an Mexican Flag while other members of her hate-group voicing their hatred for immigrants...



• How about the denials and racist comments regarding the Republican Minority Leader Pauline Basso/Planning Commissioner Joel Urice/Common Councilwoman Mary Teicholtz racist email scandal that shocked the entire state, cost Basso and Urice the election, and gave them their much needed public humiliation in the mainstream media.

cherly boston: Why is racism so bad? Is there a law that says we have love these subhuman primates? Nigs and immigrants are filthy animals, and the world would be a lot better off without them.

[...]

johnynm: get over it. everyone's been subject to a racist joke or comment about their own ethnicity. some people are just looking to be offended.

[...]

Tarheel: It's a joke! IT'S A JOKE!! They don't joke around in Mexico? Is it something in the water that makes you lose your sense of laughter? I thought those e-mails were funny, EVERYONE sends these jokes in e-mails daily and that is why the Danbury VOTING public is not outraged.

ICE is NICE: Tell that Hernandez guy to go stuff it!
He will never have respect because he was a illegal alien who willfully broke American laws and disrespected every American citizen by his criminal actions.

It is offensive to hear him described as an 'immigrant activist'.

[...]

BANNED_AND_LOVIN_IT: Basso, you don't owe Pitts a thing... much less an apology... The fact that you met with this Sharpton wanna-is disappointing.

The Memphis Kid: Koonz [writer of today's article] is pathetic. He's a Democrat party lackey and a journalistic hack.

Brian – did you get a signed affidavit from every single Danbury resident affirming they believed the e-mails to be racist? Of course not. Despite your belief that you’re the anointed spokesperson of all Danbury, there are many, if not most, who believe the e-mails were simply harmless satire. Satire intended to make commentary on legitimate current event issues...In closing, Brian Koonz is an amateur who got his journalistic “credentials” out of a cereal box.

Boughton58: They can delte my posts but they can't silence the truth. Nigs and immigrants are disgusting animals that need to be eradicated or enslaved.

We need to take dominion over the beasts of the field.

...and who can forget our lovely City Clerk who's apparently an outright racist or too blind or stupid (take your pick) to notice the HUGE racist sign held by a skinhead.

Oh, I can go on and on, but I think you get the point. This comment from last year on the condition of Danbury pretty much sums things up.

The people commenting on this board and arguing that everything is okay, that racist emails are funny or benign, clearly have not been the victim of such overt hate themselves.

The comments paint a picture of a community that is crude, cruel and hard hearted. They shine a harsh and unflattering light on a group of people who would rather use hate and stereotypes than get their sh*t together and deal with issues in their community in some way other than bonding through shared hatred.

In the end, all this spewed hatred is accomplishing nothing other than to spread hatred. There is no game plan, no constructive plan to attempt to correct problems or address grievances or even to identify their root causes -- there's just the spewing.

You know what? The notion that a bunch of immigrants caused this group of people the problems they have is utterly laughable. They ha d big problems before any of these immigrants ever crossed the border into the USA. This cretins are just the low life on the totem pole, looking for the next dog to kick.

The citizens of Danbury have a choice: They can seize the opportunity to make Danbury a model city for diversity, one that finds constructive solutions to problems and includes everyone as they seek answers-- or to drag and spiral Danbury downward in a sea of hate and intolerance.

The Republican party already gave a clear signal that it is not interested in diversity when presidential candidates dissed the invitation to the African American GOP presidential debate.

Hatred is not a necessary ingredient in working out the challenges of a widely diverse city. Those GOP members who are trying to convince citizens that knee jerk intolerance is a normal approach to life are pathetic, as are their supporters.

Squawking all together about how normal racist emails are they only reinforce the stereotype of Danbury as a pathetic, small-minded, hardhearted bastion of hatred in Connecticut. Do you think that officials engaging in this sort of ridiculousness will help attract jobs and stabilize the economy in Danbury?

Keep indulging yourselves in your self absorbed petty hatreds and see where it gets you. Sound of Danbury flushing itself down the toilet.

Boughton's Danbury: The armpit of Connecticut.